«Flower terraces» or rather the «chicken coops» A film about the «famous» condominiums of Bergamo – EcoDiBergamo.it

The film Il condominio inclinato will be screened in absolute preview on Tuesday, September 29 at 9:00 p.m. at the Conca Verde Cinema in Bergamo. Bergamo, sun, casbahs, chicken coops and flowery terraces, by Alberto Valtellina and Paolo Vitali from Bergamo (Italy 2020, 76 ‘).

The inclined condominium is a cinematographic research project on the “Terrazze fiorite” and “Bergamo sole” building complexes, built between 1976 and 1980 on a project by the architects Giuseppe Gambirasio and Giorgio Zenoni: initially defined as “the chicken coops”, they were designed and appreciated internationally and are today among the most sought-after residences in the city.

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Through the testimonies of the inhabitants, the film describes the private spaces, the common spaces and the multiple and articulated relationships with them. The story that emerges is as accurate as it is “loving”: among the neighbors, the two directors meet “the world’s largest collector of Nutella gadgets”, who assures that he does not even know how much this is a source of pride or shame, and a passionate botany teacher showing orchids born spontaneously among flower beds.

They discover that in the 90s some boys had filmed curious film thrillers in the alleys and roofs of houses and that some interior spaces have lent themselves, over time, to unconventional uses such as an Arci club, in which a group of the girls does acrobatic pole dance moves.

Explains Paolo Vitali, architect and director, that on September 29 he will be present in the room with the co-director and producer Alberto Valtellina to dialogue with the public: “The objective of our work was to highlight the strong interaction between the space and the inhabitants. The Gambirasio and Zenoni project fits into the cultural climate that, between the post-war period and the 1970s, favored the construction of large housing complexes that should develop sociability and relationships. Unlike other project operations that did not correspond to an adequate quality of housing, in the “horizontal city” of Bergamo an experimental approach prevailed, rich in solutions that have promoted and favored meaningful ways of interacting with space.».

The film project starts from a specific interest in the condominiums of Vitali himself, who on several occasions accompanied groups of Italian and foreign lovers: university professors, professionals, critics. “Sometimes with comic implications,” says the architect, “like when Laura, a resident who kindly offered to show her apartment, found eight Swiss architects huddled in her small bathroom, determined to take notes.”

Among the protagonists Giorgio Zenoni, one of the two designers whom Valtellina and Vitali asked to be guided inside the structure to discover its constitutive principles, who explains how the idea of ​​the inclined plane was born from a precise prescription of the master plan. , who planned to preserve the view of the Upper City and the Hills.

And about the production work, Alberto Valtellina explains: «We decided to let time work in our favor. The film ended after more than two years because we wanted to become “part of the building”, a part of observation and dialogue. We did not impose a structure on the film, we let ourselves be carried away by the encounters and friendships that were born. On several occasions we have shared parts of the montage with our protagonists ».

The music is original, the musicians who played it have been traced among the inhabitants: a musicologist, creator and baghèt, the bagpipe from Bergamo; a piano teacher playing a Bach part; three brothers, two violins and a cello, played by Grieg and Vivaldi on the terraces, on the stairs and in the garages.

The screening is organized in collaboration with the Bergamo City Council. The comment of Nadia Ghisalberti, Councilor for Culture of the Bergamo City Council: «The municipal administration appreciates all the efforts aimed at improving and rediscovering small or large parts of the history of our city, even recently, which are sometimes forgotten or little known . That is why we have chosen to support the presentation and dissemination of the project The inclined condominium, an original investigation that makes us rediscover an internationally famous residential architectural heritage of the seventies, which we all have under our eyes every day but which has been lost deep knowledge. By intertwining the voices of the “technicians” with those of those who live there, in an alternation of past and present history, the project has led to an analysis of the ideals of living in an absolutely innovative moment, to try to understand whether this model architecture has endured over time and is still in force today.

Advance tickets on the website https://concaverde.sas.18tickets.it/. Admission costs 5.50 euros, discount of 5. For information 035251339. The Conca Verde Cinema is in via Mattioli 65 in Bergamo, Longuelo district.

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